Lemon Blueberry Cake with Raspberry Filling

I love a good themed dessert, especially on the Fourth of July. When I was a teenager it was a store-bought cake mix topped with icing-in-a-tub and decorated like a flag with sliced strawberries and blueberries. I was so proud! A few years later it was a red, white and blue trifle with layers of sponge cake, vanilla custard, whipped cream, and of course, the standard strawberries and blueberries. Good stuff. Last year my sister came to visit on the 4th and we really went all out- Rice Crispy treats with red and blue sprinkles. Whatever, they were good.

This year I’m lucky enough to have stumbled upon my new favorite blog for all things sweet. Sally’s Baking Addiction is an awesome resource for satisfying your sweet tooth. Her recipes are super easy to follow with great baking tips and tricks tucked in along the way. She also has beautiful photographs of her treats throughout the cooking process, making each recipe hard to resist. Check it out!

I’ve been wanting to make the Lemon Blueberry Layer Cake from her website for a while. I don’t know what it is about dessert with fruit in it, but I’m always drawn to those recipes. I like to pretend that a cake, fruit, pie, or muffin laden with fruit, is healthy. Not just healthier…healthy. So a layer cake bursting with plump blueberries and bright lemons? I might as well be eating salad! Yeah- I know I’m dreaming, but I don’t crush your dreams so please don’t crush mine. There has to be some sort of evidence to support this, right? Fruit is obviously more nutritious than chocolate so surely there’s some merit to my claim. Oh well.

Regardless, this cake has been calling my name for weeks and meets almost all of my July Fourth criteria. White and blue. Now for the red. I could have easily just thrown some raspberries on top and called it a day, but that seemed like a little bit of a cop out. It makes sense and would have totally tasted fine, but it doesn’t really tie together with the rest of the cake. So maybe an actual raspberry filling? Whenever my Oma baked a layer cake she always used a fruit filling to go along with the buttercream filling. It was the perfect combination of sweet-tartness to go along with the super sweet buttercream. I decided to do the same and I am really happy with the way the cake came out. The spongecake has a very subtle lemon flavor that provides the perfect base for this decadent dessert and pairs well with both berries. The icing is probably the best buttercream I’ve ever made and will likely be my icing of choice from here on out. It’s so easy and delicious, and like Sally describes, tastes like “spreadable cheesecake.” YUM!

I hope you’ll try this recipe out for the 4th…or any time for that matter. It’s sweet, it’s fruity, and it’s super healthy- right? 🙂 Happy Fourth of July!

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray three 9×2 inch cake pans with nonstick spray or butter and flour them. Set aside.

Make the cake. Using a handheld or stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on high until creamy – about 1 minute. Add granulated and brown sugars and beat on medium-high speed until creamed, about 2-3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until everything is combined, about 2 full minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Set aside.

In a large sized bowl, toss together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Beat on low speed for 5 seconds, then add the milk, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Remove from the mixer and stir lightly until everything is just combined. Toss the blueberries in 1 Tablespoon of flour and fold into the batter. Batter is extremely thick. Do not overmix at any point.

Spoon batter evenly into 3 prepared cake pans. If only using 2 cake pans, your bake time will be longer. Bake the three layers for about 21-26 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Mine took 21 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Make the raspberry filling. Add raspberries, lemon juice and sugar to a small saucepan. Heat over medium heat until berries begin to release juices and the sugar has dissolved. Pour into a small food processor and pulse until pureed. Add back to saucepan and bring to a low boil. Make a slurry using 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and 1 tablespoon of water. Mix well and stir into raspberries. Continue to cook over low heat until mixture has thickened and appears glossy, stirring constantly. Let cool completely.

Make the frosting. Using a handheld or stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat cream cheese and butter together on medium speed until no lumps remain, about 3 full minutes. Add confectioners’ sugar, 1 Tablespoon cream, vanilla extract, and salt with the mixer running on low. Increase to high speed and beat for 3 minutes. Add 1 more Tablespoon of cream to thin out, if desired.

Assemble and frost. First, using a large serrated knife, trim the tops off the cake layers to create a flat surface. Place 1 layer on your cake stand. Evenly cover the top with as much raspberry filling as desired, being sure to leave a 1/4 inch border around the cake so that the filling doesn’t ooze out when you top it with the 2nd layer of cake. Top the raspberry filling with the 2nd cake layer and spread frosting all over the top, letting it spill over the sides. Secure with a few toothpicks to keep the layers from sliding off one another. Add the 3rd layer and secure with a few more toothpicks if needed. Top with frosting and spread around the sides. Top with blueberries, rasperries or lemon garnish if desired. Refrigerate for at least 45 minutes before cutting or else the cake may fall apart as you cut. Don’t forget to let people know that the cake is secured with toothpicks so that they are on the look out while digging in.